In a talk Ivan Illich gave late in his life, he made the fol­lowing observation: “Learned and leisurely hos­pi­tality is the only anti­dote to the stance of deadly clev­er­ness that is acquired in the pro­fes­sional pur­suit of objec­tively secured knowledge.” Then he added, “I remain cer­tain that the quest for truth cannot thrive out­side the nour­ish­ment of mutual trust flow­ering into a com­mit­ment to friendship.”

Two charms

Writing to the Con­vivial Society, L. M. Sacasas discusses infor­ma­tion and anxiety, even dread. Near the end, he invokes his intel­lec­tual lodestone:

You could chew on that short block­quote for a long, long time. It offers at least two phrases that, for me, glow like amulets:

There’s “deadly clev­er­ness,” of course—a sharp little dagger.

But really, the power is in “learned and leisurely hos­pi­tality”. Put that on a string and carry it around your neck.

April 2021, Oak­land